I just read this because I noticed that I'd not read any of Clarice and didn't expect anything so much as this. An open recommendation of this book to anybody here. I struggle to imagine reading Hour of the Star and not being inspired.

It is radiantly beautiful. I quite genuinely find it difficult to imagine composing a book of its type. A comparison to The Waves is present, but in a sense, Waves is more comprehensible as a written object - that is - an object that has been written. Hour of the Star is not elusive in the same manner as The Waves: Lispector is perfectly comprehensible. So this text is mysterious from the writer's perspective but quite certainly material for the reader.

There are very few novels that offer such convincing portraits of an individual. Critics tend to talk about Ulysses as a 'portrait' text, and I think strong cases can be made for Les Mis and Anna Karenina. Baldwin also comes to mind. I think Lispector's portrait is particularly special for playing with the author/subject relationship also - but this is a novel of only 100 pages! Fantastic work. Much love. Will be pursuing G.H. at some point.